Five Long Years
by Spacedoutwrites
Summary: There were five years between the decimation and the return. A lot can happen in five years. This is a series of one-shots following the surviving characters during that five-year time gap. Canon compliant. ON HIATUS


**Natasha**

**Wakanda: 10 minutes after the snap**

It was hard to believe they were gone. Really gone. Sam, Wanda, Bucky, T'Challa, all turned to dust. The stench of the Wakandan battlefield and the grit that swirled through the air, grit that used to be living creatures, made her sick. The aches of battle caught up to her as the adrenaline finally ran out. She was sticky with sweat and blood and she still had green goo on her face.

Natasha wanted to stop and talk this out. Figure out what happened and if they could reverse it, but a heavy silence hung in the air and no one seemed ready to break it. They stared at Vision's body and the nearby piles ash for what felt like hours before they started heading back to the palace. The field was a mess and they were all forced to cover their faces so they wouldn't inhale the swirling dust. Natasha tried to take in her surroundings, stay sharp like she always did, but her her senses felt dulled. Her ears were ringing and all she saw were blurs as she carefully kept the tears in her eyes from falling. Quiet conversations were held as people tried to figure out who all was missing, if they were lying on the battlefield or if they had been scattered in the wind, but she couldn't make herself stop to help anyone. Normally she would have been the last person off that field, but as she left the messy scene behind, she couldn't even make herself care.

"Steve what happened?" was all she could manage.

"We lost," he said without elaborating.

She wanted to scream, to yell that she'd figured out that much, but her throat was so tight she couldn't utter another word.

When they came back to the lab, they found it a mess, occupied by only bloody bodies and more piles of dust. Okoye was with them, and although her expression was well schooled, Natasha could easily tell she had been crying and would probably cry again very soon. With T'Challa and Shuri both gone, Wakanda was quickly descending into chaos.

As they watched any news feed they could find, it soon became clear that this was happening all over the world.

Nat leaned over to Steve, "We can fix this can't we? I mean there's gotta be something we can do."

Steve shook his head, "Let's just get back home," he said.

"Home?" she asked, trying to keep the surprise out of her voice.

"I mean the compound," Steve snapped. "Have you tried getting ahold of Fury yet?"

"Yeah, no answer."

Steve swore, "maybe lines are just down or something."

"Hopefully. There should be tracking tech in the quinjet, we can try to contact SHIELD from there."

"Alright let's get out of here."

"Steve?" Natasha asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, Nat?"

"Do you think... do you think Tony's dead too?"

He winced at the question. "I really hope not, but at this point, I think it's a pretty safe bet."

Nat nodded, unable to make eye contact with him. After a long moment, she looked back up at him. "He could fix this."

"I know."

"I think he may be our only shot at fixing this."

"I know."

"But that's only if he's not dead."

"Only if he's not dead," Steve repeated.

Natasha, Steve, Thor, Bruce, and Rhodey headed to the hangar after a round of somber goodbyes with the Wakandans.

"We'll fix this," Natasha told them. "We have to." She only hoped that they could, that she wasn't just lying to give herself, and everyone else, false hope.

Before they left, Natasha heard someone call to her, "Hey lady, I'm coming with you!"

Nat turned to see the talking raccoon coming toward her. She took a step back, "sorry, who are you?"

"The rabbit's with me," Thor said, breaking the silence that had come over him since the end of the battle.

"Rabbit?" was all Natasha could manage to ask.

The raccoon sighed, "My name's Rocket, I helped the big guy over there make his new axe."

Natasha nodded, as if that explained why she was having a conversation with a walking, talking raccoon.

"My friend disappeared along with everyone else, and I need to find my other friends, if they're… you know, not dead. I want to kill that ugly purple grape just like everyone else, but as far as I can tell, you guys are actually pissed off enough to get it done, so I'm coming with you."

"Fair enough Rocket, you're welcome to come with us. At this point though, it may take a while to get anything important done, but we'll do our best. I'm Natasha by the way."

And with that, the remaining Avengers and their new friend boarded the quinjet and took off to find Nick Fury, or what was left of him.

* * *

_Hey guys, thanks for reading! This is my first Avengers fic, so critiques are welcome. I think there's a lot to work with in this five year time gap, so I'm really excited to explore what some of our favorite characters may have been up to during that time. These chapters will probably all be separate and not in chronological order, but maybe I'll do a bit of a plot with a few chapters, it depends on the interest levels I see. If you have any requests, just let me know, I'll do my best! I'm hoping to have another chapter up very soon, but in the mean time, leave a review! I would really appreciate it._

_-Spacedoutwrites_


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